Education Week

Online Learning in the Spotlight

Online education gets a thorough workout in the new “Technology Counts” report, released today by Education Week. (Subscription required for full access.) Full disclosure: I covered technology for this newspaper and wrote articles in the previous 12 editions of this report. This year’s report gives examples of established and nascent forms of online education, some of them hybrids with traditional teaching approaches, to provide learning options to rural students, to offer Advanced Placement courses and courses designed to help students make up missing credits, and to give teachers professional development. Despite the sketchy evidence of effectiveness of online learning and the cutbacks from the current economic crisis, online learning is poised for modest growth over the next few years, according to the report. As is the habit of Editorial Projects in Education, the nonprofit publisher, the report assigns grades to the states in their use of technology and in their capacity to use technology. Detailed state reports are offered online, but they cost an additional $2.95 per state.

© 2009 Digital Education Today.